How Confident of a Blogger are You?

Every morning I watch a few motivational speeches. I mostly listen to them, but this morning I took extra care to watch (and try to analyze) the body language of various speakers. Body language accounts for the majority of your communication – not your words.

I know what you’re thinking: “That’s cool, Cristian, but what does this have to do with blogging?”

Read on if you want to find out.

Body language is related to motion. That’s it. And, truth be told, it’s all just a balancing act. No motion is boring, and too much movement gives off a nervous vibe.

So confidence is seen in meaningful movement. Walk with purpose — you know where you’re headed — walk calmly, and walk with confidence.

When not moving, your stance says a lot about you. For instance, a wide stance is considered masculine and confident. A narrow stance, with feet together, is very feminine or meek. Picture a police officer, hulking over passing pedestrians in a nearly awkwardly wide stance. He’s doing that to appear in control (whether he feels that way or not). But then consider that anytime someone is portrayed as either a child or someone equally helpless, this is done with feet tightly together (and usually shoulders slightly shrugged).

Again, balance is important.

Being confident when blogging

Yes, no one can see your body language when you blog, but:

Walk with confidence. Online. Find your niche and take command of it. Live it and breath it, and do so unapologetically. As mentioned in the past, being a blogging authority starts with considering yourself one. In the same way no one will respect you when you speak in public unless you look the part, your presence online won’t hold water unless you carry yourself confidently.

The world changes its opinion about you the day after you do. You must first see yourself as confident, and then the world will adjust to this new found belief.

Walk with purpose. Give your readers a reason to read. This only applies to those who want to generate a following. Make sure you’re writing something worth reading. And, as much as you can, cut out the fat. Don’t distract your reader so much that they miss the point of your message.

Walk like yourself. There needs to be a bit of variety and play in everything you do, whether it’s presenting to an audience or writing to them. For example, look over the words I’ve written above. I’ve made a point to be more playful than usual. Can you tell? How did it change your reading experience? If you can keep the balance, feel free to have some fun with your audience. Don’t be the boring teacher.

A bit of swagger. That’s what it takes. Just a little bit. A bit of sarcasm, a bit of cockiness. Just something that others can perceive as you not taking yourself too seriously.

Confidence is one of the most talked about topics when it comes to almost any aspect of life, yet the truth is that the inner state means more than any one of the external aspects that announce it.

What I mean by this?

If you’re truly confident, no matter what your stance is, you’ll appear confident. If you’re not feeling confident, even if you try to appear so, odds are that something will give your nervousness away. A micro-gesture, your feet moving too much, you fumbling with your fingers…

The same goes for blogging: if you’re confident about the words you share with the world, it does not matter what rules you follow or break, you’ll still be perceived as someone who believes in what they’re writing.

This was discovered in customer service years ago. Phone agents interacted more pleasantly with customers on the phone if the agents saw their reflections. Facial expressions and body language are intertwined with verbal and written communications. Cheers